Dungeon Chapter 16 (Patreon)

After my second round, Miss Sae dismissed us all to take a break before we came back for the third.

I took the chance to run over the hill to the mountainous area where Charlotte was fighting.

Thankfully, I made it there in time.

Charlotte stepped up to the open area, gazing across the crowd to her opponent.

It was after a few more steps that I saw who it was.

Penelope stepped out with her sword drawn. Yet she was as casual as could be.

Charlotte caught sight of me and she turned with a bright smile and a spunky thumbs up as she readied to fight her opponent.

Bun-bun was on the ground bouncing at her feet like a scrappy animal ready for a fight.

My presence caught Penelope’s attention, and she looked between me and Charlotte for a moment before a broad smirk to cross her face. Then she turned back to Charlotte and drew her thumb across her neck.

The action only made Charlotte glare at her.

It seems that my presence only caused more issue for Charlotte. Penelope was going to try to make an example out of her.

There were priests here to revive Charlotte, but I also knew that she had some fear in the dungeon.

I wasn’t sure if Penelope managed to kill her if it would leave any psychological scars on my favorite druid.

“Get her Charlotte.” I shouted, and a few of the other students cheered for her. Everyone liked an underdog.

***

Ken cheered her on and it buoyed Charlotte’s spirit.

But she knew she was at a serious disadvantage just by being a support, never mind the level difference.

“Start.” Her teacher called it and Penelope rushed forward.

Charlotte was almost surprised. The frost knight wasn’t very fast.

“Bun-bun, go and stay evasive.” Charlotte sent her rabbit into battle. “Growth.”

It went from a cute fluffy rabbit to one the size of a dog as it charged Penelope.

The frost knight swung, a chill wind blowing behind her swing even as she missed.

Charlotte tried to pull her jacket tighter. She was suddenly freezing and her body felt a little sluggish before she realized Penelope had used a debuff on her.

This wasn’t good.

She knew she already had slower reactions compared to some of these trained fighters, and now with the chill effecting her, she was going to be even slower.

Penelope ignored Bun-bun after the rabbit’s dodge and charged Charlotte much faster than she had moved before.

Blocking with her staff, Charlotte grit her teeth under the other woman’s strength. “Stay back. Bun-bun.” Charlotte swung her staff wide, trying to make space between her and the frostknight.

But Penelope took the staff swing on her leg as her sword swung upwards. Her sword caught a glimmer of light as it reached the top, and then it swung down far faster than it had risen.

Charlotte knew there was nothing she could do. In that moment, she desperately wanted Ken there to stop that blade.

But he couldn’t interrupt. She knew it was part of the rules.

So when the blade fell, she wasn’t surprised with Ken didn’t appear, instead she was surprised when she didn’t even feel it.

Charlotte’s arm just ceased to exist as it fell to the ground.

Penelope grinned over her before she jerked to the side, blocking Bun-bun’s tackle with her sword and spraying more of that chill wind over Charlotte’s pet. “You will die.” The frostknight promised her.

Without her left arm, Charlotte struggled to swing the staff with one hand, Penelope bat it out of her grip easily and loomed over her.

Three quick cuts tore at Charlotte’s clothes and left giant cuts in her chest. The pain flared, and she struggled to call for Bun-bun.

She knew that she had lost and that Penelope was trying to intimidate her. Behind it all, Ken was watching her.

It was too embarrassing to lose this way. She wanted to recoil and let it end, but something in Ken’s eyes gave her a last burst of energy.

Charlotte lunged forward and bit Penelope as her good hand punched the other girl. “I’m not going down like some weak little lamb!”

The frostknight elbowed Charlotte in the face and there was a flash of a blade.

Then it wall went black.

***

I rushed down to Charlotte as soon as Penelope ran her sword through her chest.

The frostknight spun at my approach, her blade flashing out.

My sword appeared in my hand as I blocked, pushing her blade away and spinning down to a knee to check on Charlotte.

Thankfully, she wasn’t struggling in pain.

When Penelope had cut her arm off when she had a clean kill, I was worried that she was going to butcher Charlotte and make her suffer.

“Don’t interrupt.” Penelope pointed her sword at me.

“Can’t you see that she’s dead?” I looked up. “Healer, bring her back, please.” Something about Charlotte’s death had my heart racing and my palms sweating with anxiety.

Logic knew that the priest here would bring her back, but every moment she was dead, it was as if something was trying to claw out from the inside of my chest.

The healer was a thin figure with a hood so deep, I couldn’t see their face. “Revive.” Her voice was scratchy.

But with her words, a bright light flashed around Charlotte and her severed arm.

When it cleared, my druid was blinking up at the sky.

“I lost.” She pouted.

“You did great. Penelope had a tremendous advantage yet. You gave it your all.” I smiled down at her, just so damn happy to have her back. That anxiety receded, and I just wanted to hold her, but that would be inappropriate.

“I did, didn’t it?” She smiled back. “Okay.” She slapped her cheeks. “Help me up.”

Pulling her to her feet, I was met by a scowling woman.

“You’ll die just like her.” Penelope promised.

“Sure.” I nearly spat at her, as I help Charlotte and a dog sized Bun-bun bounded into her, nearly knocking both of us down.

It was hard to stay tough with the giant rabbit, and then I realized I cared more about comforting Charlotte than trading juvenile barbs with Penelope. “Come on, Char, you can come watch the rest of my fights.”

“Oh. How have you done so far?” She asked, following my lead and ignoring Penelope.

“Good. Won the first two. Fought Taylor from our class in the first round.” I walked with her, Bun-bun shrinking down and jumping onto her head.

“Don’t you ignore me.” Penelope shouted, but I decided to do just that. She wasn’t worth my time, if all she wanted to do was try to intimidate her.

We’d let our blades do the talking tomorrow.

But if I was honest, from what little I saw, she was an expert with that sword. It was hard to gauge too much from that fight, though.

Charlotte fought with a staff while I would fight with a short sword and a dagger.

“Ken.” Charlotte said as we walked towards my fighting area. “She used some sort of debuff to slow me down. I know she’s got it out for you, so be careful tomorrow.”

I squeezed her shoulders. “Don’t worry about me. I’m just happy that you did so well.”

“You think so? She beat me pretty quickly.” Charlotte pouted.

“Yeah. She was double your level, and it was a fighter versus a healer. You did amazing.” I did my best to cheer her up as we got to my fighting area and Miss Sae noticed my return.

“Thirteen versus Fifteen.” The teacher said with a nod towards me.

“Kick some butt.” Charlotte turned into my own personal cheerleader. “Go Ken!”

Some of the other girls gave her an odd look, but she didn’t seem to mind at all.

On the other side of the area, another girl stepped up to fight me. She was short, with cropped black hair and a face mask over the lower half of her face.

This one had a thinner build and two knives. She held them in a familiar stance from something I’d seen my grandfather use when he talked about other styles.

The girl was trained well, and she was trained to be an assassin. Though, unlike me, I think she actually had the class for it.

I took her seriously, instantly drawing both of my weapons for this fight.

With Charlotte watching, I couldn’t embarrass myself.

“Come on.” The girl motioned for me to start, but I knew it was meant for Miss Sae.

“Start.”

Like an arrow leaving the bow, she shot forward, looking to close the distance and end this quickly.

Thankfully, I had plenty of experience fighting someone who fought like an assassin.

Our four blades met each other in a violent impact before the assassin tried to weave her knives in between my blades.

But, I was ready for that, not just fighting with my knife and short sort, but stomping the ground as well. “Earth Stomp.” I cast the spell, and the ground rippled underneath her.

She stumbled, and it was enough for me to see an opening.

Leading with my sword with a strike from above, she blocked with both knives to make up for her lack of balance.

My knife plunged into that opening. “Dark Strike.”

Just as my blade caught her side, she shouted. “Flicker.”

It was just the briefest of moments. She shifted about a foot to the side with her ability.

Not enough to escape or engage, but just enough to force a dodge if used correctly.

“Dark Strike.” She used the same ability as me, and my guard was way out of position.

Her knife caught my bicep before I could move completely out of the way.

I disengaged from her and she chased me with a feral grin of someone who thought they had won.

It was the assassin style, wound them, then hound them to death.

But she was wounded too. That cut I managed in her side was deep enough that blood was flowing freely. I had to wonder if her adrenaline was hiding just how bad it was.

On the other hand, my right arm was going to be weak, but as far as blood, I was bleeding far less.

Dodging back and away from her first strike, I used my left to block her second and continued to keep myself moving.

She faltered and my first instinct was to jump and in take the opening, but something in my training stopped me and I feinted as I dodged to the side.

“Flicker, Dark Strike.” She chained her skills, using that very short range movement skill aggressively.

If I hadn’t trusted my training, I would have had a dagger through my eye socket right now.

I lashed out with my sword. It was my weak arm, but she blocked, leaving her side open. My arm went limp, and I transfered my momentum to my hips and I whipped out a kick that caught her knee.

Her other knife flashes as it tore my pants, but thankfully did little more than scratch me as I lept back.

The exchange felt like a battle in of itself, but really it all took place within a single breath. That was how a fight between two assassins should be.

Strike quick and strike deep before retreating.

“What’s your name?” I tried to stall.

“Jasmine.” She grit her teeth. “What’s your class?”

“No idea. I got the skillbook for Dark Strike.” I knew using an assassin and a tank type ability had confused her.

She nodded and spun her daggers. “You fight well. Once more.” She grunted as the bleeding on her side was getting to her.

The next second she was charging me, favoring that side.

I was concerned about her flicker skill. It was small, but at this point it was still amazingly deadly. I had the advantage if this drew out, so I focused on protecting myself.

“Earth Stomp.”

She jumped into the air to avoid it. “Dark Strike.”

“Dark Strike.” I met her attack with my dagger and immediately ducked.

“Flicker.” She shifted enough to bypass my sword. If I hadn’t ducked, it would have been a trade of near deadly blows.

Jasmine had gambled everything on it being enough to take me out.

But now that I knew her skill’s range, I had been able to counter.

My dagger hand was too close to a stab, so I opted to drag it across her side before slipping around her.

She fell to the ground. “Healer. I’m done.”

Our group’s healer came over and healed her.

But Charlotte was on me in an instant with a flustered expression as she focused on my wound. “Heal. Heal.” She poured healing into the gash on my arm.

“Thank you.” I smiled up at the druid.

“Yay!” Charlotte broke her concentration and hugged me before pushing away with a giant blush. “You did wonderful, Ken.” Charlotte congratulated me while Jasmine stood up and came over.

“Great fight. Who trained you?”

“Uzmaki Nagato. My grandfather.” I said.

Her eyes lit up. “No wonder. He was one of the best assassins. Shame you didn’t get the class.”

“I can only hope it leads to something better.” Holding out my fist, she bumped it and nodded respectfully.

“I look forward to seeing your progress.” Jasmine grinned and left. I had a feeling she was about to go practice more.

With all the trouble I’d had in Haylon Academy, maybe I just had to fight them all and one by one earn their respect.

“Come on. Let’s make room for the next fight.” I was feeling oddly on display as the women of Haylon watched Charlotte fluster over me.

“You did great. The way you swished and kapowed.” Charlotte dodge and threw punches at an invisible enemy. “It was so cool. I wish I could fight like that. Sadly, I don’t have the talent for it.”

I sighed. “A few years of brutal training under my grandfather did that. Though there might be a scratch of talent under all of that.”

Charlotte only grinned wider and Bun-bun looked at me with a small ounce of respect.

I guess that was the best I was going to get from the rabbit.

“That wraps up my fights for the day. So I was thinking about going and taking a shower before our date.” I tried to be casual about it, slipping my hand into Charlotte’s.

She seemed to grab it on reflex as her other hand tapped against her cheek. “It’s already after classes and Harley is going to take forever to get ready. I should probably get going, maybe help her.”

It took her a second, and I felt her squeeze my hand as if realizing it was there.

Charlotte blushed all the way to the tips of her ears and tried to pull her hand away.

But I held it firmly, running my thumb over her knuckles. “It’s okay. I mean, we are going out, right?”

“Ye-yes.” she stuttered and looked down at our hands. “I guess we are. But I’m not your girlfriend yet.”

“Yet.” I focused on that word.

That was too much for the cute girl, and she jerked her hands away. “I need to go get ready. See you at the restaurant.” She bolted away as Bun-bun chittered at her.

I wondered what the rabbit was saying.

“Embarrassing Charlotte before your date?” Des seemed to bleed out of the surroundings.

“Saw all of that?” I chuckled nervously. “I thought she needed a little more aggressiveness from me.”

“Better get it out of the way before the date and Harley makes it ten times worse.” Des grinned, and I remembered she had a fight with Harley today.

Hopefully, Harley wasn’t permanently scarred.

“How’d your fights go?”

“Won them all, you?” She grinned and ran her hand through her purple hair, pulling it out of her face for a moment.

I nodded. “Beat them all. Watched Charlotte though…” I let out a sigh. “Penelope slaughtered her.”

“We knew that would happen, but she seems to still be standing strong.” Des nodded, her hair falling back over one eye as if asserting that’s where it belonged. “At least you helped her keep her confidence. I was worried about her and Harley.”

“Harley is okay, then? You didn’t slowly murder her in front of everyone?”

Desmonda snorted a small laugh. “She actually gave me a good run for my money. The brat ran around the stage trying to shoot me with Charlotte’s wand that she borrowed. She just kept using her haste ability to stay ahead of me.”

I laughed, having wished I saw that one.

Harley running like a scared little girl from Desmonda, who most certainly was trying to murder her.

“I don’t hate Harley. She’s actually pretty fun, but if I don’t keep on her, then she won’t get anything done. We all play our roles.” She shrugged and looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “Speaking of, I want to meet you tonight, after your date.”

“Oh?” I was surprised at her request. “Sure, I’m not allowed in the dorms.”

But Des shook her head. “That’s precisely where I need to meet you. I’m prepared to help you get a second class, everything will be arranged in my room tonight 328 in the Blossom Tower.”

“Wait, really?” I turned and grabbed her shoulders. “You can give me a second class?”

“It won’t be easy, but I’m sure I can. There is a ritual in my family’s grimoire and I got all the ingredients from my father this morning.” She stared me back in the eyes and I knew she wasn’t teasing me.

Holy crap.

I could get a second class.

But I’d have to be in the dorms, where Marlow promised to expel me if I was found. I swallowed.

Grandfather’s stealth trainings were going to come in handy. “I’ll be there.” I said seriously.

“Don’t think too much of it. I want to see you kick Penelope’s ass and face me in the finals.” She grinned a little wickedly at some stray thought.

“Thank you.” I still thanked her. Des was purposefully aloof, but I knew she had gone to no small lengths to do this.

Her family likely kept this a secret. For her to use it to help me was a tremendous show of trust.

“Just don’t disappoint me tomorrow.” She brushed off my hands, though at least she smiled.

She should smile more. It was pretty.